Birth of an Angel
by Kezzstar
Summary: 2000 years before Midgar, this is the story of how Jenova reached Gaia, and of those who fought against its evil.
1. Chapter 1

**Thought I'd try my hand at a Final Fantasy story. I haven't been doing much writing recently (too many stale ideas in me noggin. You have no idea how frustrating that can be!) so it's good to have some fresh inspiration. Enjoy!**

* * *

Buster never liked his brother Sephiroth.

The pair lived in a village, 2,000 years before Midgar was built. The village was called Centurion, and it was the biggest village in the tribe known as Cetra. Centurion was a special place, a land where the Lifestream flowed close to the surface, sometimes crystallizing to form natural Materia, which was mined and used for jewellery before being returned to the Lifestream again during the summer festivals.

Sephiroth and Buster were the oldest of five brothers. Sephiroth was the oldest, then Buster, then the triplets Ultima, Ruby and Emerald. In the hut next door lived a girl named Crystal, who was a few months younger than Buster.

Buster and Crystal were the best of friends. They often tried to include Sephiroth in their fun, but he often snubbed them, resorting to bullying tactics and demoralising Buster.

Today was no different. Buster and Crystal were playing near an old Materia mine, unaware that Sephiroth was watching from a distance.

"Hey Buster," Crystal sat down on a rock, exhausted from running around after him. "Have you ever thought of marriage?"

Sephiroth perked up at the question. Crystal was only ten years old! Who was she to be thinking of marriage?

"Yuck." Buster flopped down beside her.

"But you'll get married one day when you grow up." Crystal pointed out.

"I know, it sucks." Buster picked up a leaf of grass.

"But don't you want to be someones Prince?" Crystal asked.

"Don't tell me you think you're gonna be a Princess on your wedding day!" Buster teased.

"I will so! I'll have a beautiful dress and I'll wear lots of flowers!" Crystal argued.

"If you can find someone to marry you!" Buster poked his tongue out.

"I bet I'll find someone to marry me before you do!" Crystal got up spoiling for a fight.

"Oh yeah?"

"YEAH!"

The pair started wrestling, laughing. Sephiroth looked on in jealousy. He wished he had a special friend like Buster had.

The pair soon stopped wrestling and looked at each other. Both were a dirty blonde, although Buster had bright blue eyes and Crystals were grey. Crystal had fair skin, whereas Busters complexion was ruddy. He looked nothing like his older brother, who had silver hair and green eyes.

"When we get married we won't be able to play like this anymore." Buster pouted.

"Not unless we marry each other." Crystal mused, sitting down. "OWCH!"

She had sat on a clear Materia.

"Alright! Go Crystal!" Buster walked over to look. "OW!"

He too had stepped on a clear Materia.

"Wow! We gotta show our folks!" Buster laughed.

"Not so fast."

Sephiroth stepped out of his hiding place in one of the caves. Buster yelped.

"HEY! Dad said no going into the mines! You are in SO much trouble when we get home!"

"Oh really?" Sephiroth snatched his brothers Materia.

"Give that back! Buster found that! It's his!" Crystal protested.

Sephiroth said nothing, instead he gave her a good shove, knocking the Materia out of her hand. It broke into two pieces. Buster ran to help her up, while Sephiroth laughed. He was about to give Buster a good shove too, when the Materia in his hand changed colour.

It turned black.

The sky began to grey and a large rock fell from the sky, nearly hitting the three children.

"Let's get outta here!" Buster grabbed Crystal and ran. They made it back to the village and hid behind one of the wells.

"We should get married." Buster said when he'd gotten his breath back. "After all, you're my best friend. I'd hate to marry someone else and not get to play with you any more."

He opened his hand. He'd grabbed the broken Materia before running away with Crystal. He put one half in her hand.

"Deal?"

"Deal!"

Sephiroth inspected the fallen Meteor. He wondered if the Materia had magic powers.

"Silly! It's just a pretty rock! Materia doesn't have magic!" He scolded himself.

The Meteor had split in two. Inside was a beautiful woman.

"Hello?" He asked. No answer. She seemed to be made of metal. Maybe she couldn't understand him?

"Are you okay?" He tried again. The head turned to look at him.

Sephiroth bolted. He ran all the way home and hid in his room. He wouldn't even come out for dinner.

His mother ended up bringing a plate full of Chocobo meat to him in his room.

"Buster tells me you were in the mine." His mother said sternly.

"I wasn't! He's a little liar!" Sephiroth cried.

"You know Buster doesn't lie. And Crystal backed him up. You know you're not allowed in those caves Sephiroth." Lucrecia frowned at her son.

"Yes Mother." Sephiroth glared at his hands. Stupid perfect Buster.

Lucrecia kissed his forehead. "I don't want you to get hurt. Now eat up like a good boy, and I'll see you bright and early in the morning."

She left Sephiroth to his thoughts. He thought of the woman in the stone. Was she okay? Was she hungry?

Without a moments hesistation, Sephiroth took off out of the window and rushed back to the Meteor, his dinner gripped tightly in his hand. The woman was still there.

He carefully laid the food at her feet, taking a bread roll for himself. She continued to look at him.

"Here's some food..." He stuttered, before running away again.

Next day, the food was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again! Enjoy again!**

* * *

Sephiroth looked at the empty plate, then at the woman with metallic skin.

"HEY! It wasn't the miners! It was a meteor!"

Sephiroth froze. The adults were coming!

"We TOLD you a rock fell from the sky!" He heard Crystal's voice.

"Yeah!" Buster chimed in.

Sephiroth couldn't think. Something inside him told him he had to protect this woman. The way her eyes gazed at him made him want to fight.

"SEPHIROTH!"

His father Vincent had found him.

"Dad, you can't!" Sephiroth cried. "I'll fight you!"

"What the devil are you on about?" Vincent slapped his forehead. "Sephiroth, what have you done NOW?"

"I found her! She hasn't hurt anyone!" Sephiroth cried. "I think she's hurt!"

Vincent looked at the Meteor, and saw the woman.

"She hasn't hurt anyone YET." Buster frowned.

"Shut up twerp!" Sephiroth fired.

"Both of you!" Vincent roared. Another man stepped forward.

"Who knows what she is. Or what she wants. She could be anything." He said.

"I think it's better not to take the risk." A blonde man with cold grey eyes stepped up. It was Crystals father Cloud. "I don't want anything to happen to the village."

"She hasn't hurt anyone!" Sephiroth tried again.

"Yet." Muttered Buster.

"YOU SHUT YOUR-,"

"Buster, enough!" Lucrecia stepped forward. Like her oldest son, she had silver hair and striking green eyes.

"Mother...please believe me!" Sephiroth pleaded.

Lucrecia frowned and looked up at the woman, who gazed back.

"My name is Jenova." She spoke!

Sephiroth grinned.

"I want to help you." Jenova continued. She reached out and touched Lucrecias face.

Cloud frowned. Taking Crystals hand, he led her away.

"You're not to ever go near Jenova. Understood?" Cloud warned his daughter as they headed back to the village.

"Yes Father. She's dangerous isn't she Father?" Crystal asked.

"I don't know Cupcake, but I don't want to risk the things that I cherish most finding out." Cloud lifted up his "Number One Girl" and carried her on his shoulders the rest of the way back home where his beloved wife Tifa was making lunch.

Lucrecia stepped back.

"There's a small hut you can stay in on our land." She turned to her husband. "If it's okay by my Vincent."

Vincent mumbled something angrily in agreement and headed back to the village. Buster looked at Sephiroth.

"Hmph." He then turned to follow his father.

Sephiroth looked up at Lucrecia.

"Thank you Mother." He hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around her son.

"It's okay my son." She kissed his forehead. Together they helped Jenova home.

A great tradition of the Cetra was to take time out of an afternoon to converse with the planet. Living so close to the Lifestream had granted the Cetra the power to hear the thoughts of Gaia, and to respond.

Crystal and Buster often sat together for this moment of serenity. They would sit opposite each other, their heads eventually touching, and listen to the planet.

Sephiroth tried to listen, but he often got too bored before giving up and going to do something else. A few weeks after he'd found Jenova though, he finally heard what he thought was the voice of Gaia.

_Sephiroth._

_Disgraced first born._

_I hate you._

_Give her back to me._

_Give my winged angel back to me._

Sephiroth froze. Angel? Did it mean Jenova?

He didn't know why, but he knew he had to protect her from the planet.

"Are you okay my son?" Lucrecia stroked the short silver hair atop her sons head.

"I'm fine Mother." Sephiroth hugged her. His mother understood him. His mother loved him.

His mother wouldn't let anything hurt her son.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope you all are enjoying this.**

* * *

Lucrecia was ill.

A dark patchy pigment had appeared on her face a few months after meeting Jenova. It had started small, but now covered the whole left side of her face. She was getting fevers, chills, aches and cramps.

The worst bit was she seemed to be losing her memory. Often Vincent would be searching for her, only to have someone knock on the door after leading her back to the house. She would be in the middle of saying something, and then go completely silent after forgetting what she was talking about. She would even forget that she had children.

Except Sephiroth. She would never forget her oldest boy, whom she loved dearly.

Buster was livid. He blamed the whole thing on Jenova, which drove Sephiroth up the wall, and often left to fights. It didn't help when one day Crystal pointed out that the memory loss seemed to get worse in Jenovas presence.

"Mother, they won't stop being mean!" Sephiroth would cry to his mother, who would instantly start yelling.

"What are these children doing in my home? And why are they picking on my poor Sephiroth! Get rid of them all!"

At this point she'd start swing her butchers knife around, until Vincent calmed her. Eventually Buster and the triplets had to be sent away for their own protection. Buster was put under Clouds care, while the triplets were sent to live with the mine foreman Barrett and his teenage daughter Marlene.

"I miss Mother." Buster said one night as he lay in bed with Crystal.

"I know, I hate sharing the bed!" Crystal kicked out. "Budge over Buster!"

"Hey, don't kick!" Buster kicked back.

"BOTH of you!" Cloud poked his head into the bedroom. "You're supposed to be asleep!"

"Yes Dad."

"Sorry Sir."

Cloud couldn't help but smile as he shut the door.

"You okay?" Crystal whispered a little later.

Buster turned away. "I'm fine." He lied.

Crystal cuddled up to his back. When Tifa walked in the next morning to wake them up, she had to giggle when she found them snuggled up together.

–

Lucrecia was getting worse. She would suddenly turn violent and the only thing that could stop her was Sephiroth. It was getting to the stage where Vincent was considering sending Sephiroth away too.

"No! You can't make me leave Mother!" Sephiroth cried.

"It's for your own safety." Vincent turned away. "Now finish your dinner."

"NO!" Sephiroth flung his dinner to the ground. Vincent couldn't take much more. Sephiroth ran outside to Jenova's hut.

"Jenova!" He cried. "Father wants to send me away!"

"He's scared for you Sephiroth. He's scared for your mother. He loves you both very much." Jenova touched the poor boys hair.

"Isn't there a cure?" Sephiroth moaned.

"Have you tried asking the planet?" Jenova asked. "I know you can talk to the planet, maybe it can help?"

"The planet hates me." Sephiroth replied.

"Why don't we ask together?" Jenova took the boys hand in hers, her cool metallic skin against his warm flesh.

Sephiroth closed his eyes. "_Please help my Mother. Please help my Mother._" He begged sliently.

_Sephiroth._

_Wretched child._

_I will help your mother._

_Go into the mine._

_Take a cup of the Lifestream._

_It will save her from her torment._

Sephiroths eyes flew wide open. He grabbed a stone cup from Jenovas cupboard.

"Sephiroth...?" She asked as he flew out of the door.

"I have to get to the Lifestream." Sephiroth panted. "It will save Mother!"

"You're not allowed into the mines." Jenova said firmly.

Sephiroth thought for a second.

"Not without an adult. Please come with me Jenova!" He begged.

"Very well. Come on, let's hurry before it gets too much darker." Jenova said.

They rushed to the mines, and headed down the safest looking one. The eerie green glow lead them to the Lifestream. Sephiroth bent down carefully and took a cupful of the watery substance.

"Here. Let's go!" Jenova took the cup. They both ran back home, where Jenova gave the cup back to Sephiroth.

"Good luck!" She kissed his forehead before heading home. What Sephiroth didn't notice was that the liquid was now black.

"Drink this Mother! Gaia said this would cure you!" He rushed inside and gave his mother the drink. She gulped it down.

"Sephiroth...what are you doing?" Vincent walked in. "Where have you been, you're as filthy as anything!"

"I went...Mother?" Sephiroth looked into the familiar green eyes. The pupils had dilated into slits. The cup dropped to the floor.

"Mother?" Sephiroth tried again. Without warning, she grabbed him by the throat and began shaking and squeezing.

Sephiroth tried to scream but couldn't. He could hear his father yelling at Lucrecia to stop, but she wouldn't.

He began to panic when he saw her grab the knife.

"MOTHER! MOTHER!" He screamed in a strangled voice. "MOTHER!"

The hand loosened, and she dropped to the floor.

Dead.

Vincents hands were covered in blood. He'd stabbed his wife to save his son.

"MOTHER!" Sephiroth cried. "MOTHER!"

Buster heard the shrieking. Cold sweat ran down his body. He bolted out of bed and ran back to his home to the horror within.

"MUM!" He cried. He began crying.

"WHY?" Sephiroth screamed. "WHY?"

_I saved her._

_I saved her from her torment._

_I saved her from YOU._

Cloud soon came over and took Buster and Sephiroth away. Crystal was waiting in bed when Buster returned. All she could do was hug her best friend as he cried.

Sephiroth meanwhile was all alone in the spare bedroom.

All alone because the planet hated him.

Meanwhile, where no one could hear her, Jenova laughed as her plan was a success.


End file.
